Moving the Home Office back to the dank, dark, pit.

This bright cheery space is killing me.

[grelmar]

About 6 months ago, I moved the home office to a bright, cheery, front room of the house. And my overall productivity has taken a slow, but progressive nosedive.

So at the end of the month, I'm moving the whole works back to the dark, dreary backroom.

I don't know if its the fact that the backroom is actually bigger (and less cramped), or some inner need to work in some underlit basement-like space, but somehow this just seems "right".

Anyone else here have trouble getting work done in ergonomically correct spaces with lots of lighting and a good view of the outdoors?

[clearvision]

You know you hit on something very interesting. I once read a book that talked about increasing learning productivity of children. Some need light/bright spaces and some need dark/small spaces to be more productive. I actually tested this with my children and it is so true! The dark room learner did worse when placed in a light place and sitting at a desk. She flourished in her dark space, doing school work sitting on her bed...so what do you think I did? Darn right...she can sit on her bed in her dark little tunnel and get straight A's.

My recommendation....go back to your dark back room...you'll be a millionaire!

[volatilegx]

I moved to a new home about a year ago and my new home office has lots of windows.

I was getting no work done till I hung blinds and dark curtains.

I think there must be something to that :)

[Chico_Loco]

With windows, you feel as though your missing something out there in the world (which you are by the way) and thus you always gaze out the window instead of working...

With no windows, there's nothing to see anyway and so you just get on with your work.

[PhraSEOlogy]

Take a tip from HG Wells The time machine.

The morlocks lived underground in the dark and did all the work - no distractions.

The Eloi pranced about in the sunshine above ground and did nothing useful.

Be a morlock and make some money.

[Essex_boy]

I keep my office light off at work, dunno why but it feels more normal in an odd way. Yes my work increases too.

If any one asks why I have lights off, I tell them it makes me a harder target for snipers....

Gets rid of them pretty quick.

[graywolf]

Dunno about y'all, but I LOVE to sit out on the patio under the awning and rule the SERPs from my laptop WI-FI style.

[Shannon Moore]

I do it both ways -- some days (and any nights), I prefer working in a dungeon with just me and the glow of the monitor; however, I also enjoy knowing there's a great big world out there so unless I'm doing something that requires consistent lighting (like editing photos) I keep my office's blinds cracked enough to see out and let some daylight in. I find on stretches of days where I've been working in my BatCave, I get a little moody and need to take slightly longer breaks to soak up some sunlight and remind myself there's a world beyond my office walls.

And when the weather's nice, all the windows get opened (my allergies be damned) and the blinds too. My computer faces opposite a large bank of windows, but with proper alignment of the blinds and my monitor (coupled with the angle my home faces and some tree cover) it's no issue. When I need more darkness during the day, I have a dark blue camping tarp that gets hung over my blinds to block out the light (hence the BatCave analogy). I could get some nice dark drapes, but the tarp reminds me of another love/passion/source of inspiration -- camping -- so it serves a dual purpose.

I love wildlife, birds, nature, the sky and if my desk directly faced that I would get less work done. Instead, all of those distractions (welcome, but on my own terms) are found downstairs or sitting in a comfy chair in the office set aside for just that -- relaxing, contemplating, reading or, yes, napping.

<off topic> I worked briefly at an Air Force Base as a contractor and got to watch all the young AF recruits doing their swim tests and runs. Those were not very productive days, since my desk faced the swimming pool and the airfield. :) </off topic>

[iDontKnow]

My home office is now centrally located in our living room.. screaming kids and all..

At our last location I had my own 'closed door' 'real office' setting..

Now I get much less done in 'my time' but I am able to see my 2 year old climb the ladder into the food storage bin and watch her destroy the dining room table or devistate the pantry.

Life as an internet marketer was much more productive when I did have my own office. However, it is much more interesting now, if not less productive.

[grandpa]

The last corporation I worked at moved me to a cube with a view, a nice window view. I warned them... 6 months later and I gave in to the calling to be "out there".

This paper strewn, cigarette butt littered, poorly lit fire hazard of a work space I have today comes with a natural mountain view whenever I need a break.

[vkaryl]

Shannon, I had to laugh reading your last message. In the mid 70s my sister worked for one of the contractors at Nellis AFB. One of the "perks" of her job was a 2nd floor office with a nice window over a whole section of the "training facilities".

She didn't get a whole lot done when the "facilities" were op'ing at top cap....

And on topic, my current "office" is in the living room. I have a nice desk/hutch/keyboard slide next to the sofa where my (retired for years) husband watches football/baseball/basketball/rodeo/horse racing in the evenings. I listen, and occasionally watch a REALLY super bull ride or horse race. Otherwise, the outdoors is ..... well.... just outdoors, y'know? Like less than 6 feet away, out the front door onto the deck. 7000 feet, mountains of southern Utah, gorgeous weather mostly (last night was a RIGHT BITCH though, mom nature was really on one!), walk around the corner to watch the horses kicking up their heels, or the deer all but climbing into the oak trees after acorns....

I will eventually be re-installing an office upstairs (after we carpet that room finally), but mostly I'll be down here with a laptop after that....